Everest Base Camp and the notorious Everest Ice Fall

A historic route to get there, and a palpably special place to be. At 5,300 metres getting to the Everest Base Camp is a tough trek, but once you get there, you can take pleasure in the fact that you’re resting up at what might the earth’s most famous place to pitch a tent. This is the iconic place to rest up before the next challenge. And that feeling hangs excitedly in the air here - being at base camp is both an achievement in itself, and the latest step in a great adventure. You’re in the belly of the beast of here, the trailheads up Everest and elsewhere start nearby. The camp’s great irony is that from here you don’t actually get to see Everest. No matter: being here is a special, memorable moment, and the base camp gives you a startling close-up of one of the greats of Himalayan climbing – the Khumbu icefall. The head of the Khumbu Glacier, this is one of the most treacherous passages of any route up Everest via the South Col. Crevasses can open and swallow up climbers without warning here, house-sized ice boulders tumble down and spires of ice collapse. A deadly, hostile environment, as brutal an illustration of nature’s terrible power as you’ll find anywhere.